Washing and cleaning gun



Aug. 5, 1952 w. c. UHRI 2,506,073

WASHING AND CLEANING GUN 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 FIG.4.

Filed Oct. 24, 1949 i ll FIG.1.5

- INVENTOR.

William C Uhri BY 4 AM viwlzu ATTORNEYS.

g- 5, 1952 v w. c. UHRl 2,606,073

WASHING AND CLEANING GUN Filed Oct. 24, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 JNVENTORZWilliam C. Uhrz ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 5, 1952 UNITED STATES PAT T OFFICE 2,606,073 WASHING ANDCLEANING GUN William C. Uhri, Milwaukee, Wis. Application October 24,1949, Serial No. 123.258

6 Claims. (Cl. 290-154) This invention relates in general to a novelconstruction of nozzle or gun, through which a cleaning fluid ispropelled at high velocity, by utilizing air at high pressure as thepropellant.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a nozzle which willproduce a stream of atomized cleaning fluid, or slurry, having a wide,flat cross-section of uniform atomization throughout its width.

Another object of the invention is to provide a nozzle or gun which maybe fabricated from essentially two parts and which may be adjusted toaccommodate a cleaning fiuid ranging from plain water, to a cleaningslurry composed of a combination of water, a detergent, and an abrasive.

Another object is to provide a nozzle or gun which will deliver a finelyatomized mixture of water, a detergent, and an abrasive, for cleaningmetal surfaces.

Another object is to provide a nozzle or gun to apply a finely atomizedstream of slurry of wide, fiat cross-section, at high velocity to removegrease, dirt, rust and scale from metal surfaces.

Another object is to provide a washing and cleaning gun which isrelatively simple to construct, is less costly, to make, and which maybe quickly and easily adjusted in size for use in delivering a finelyatomized stream of cleaning mixtures of varying consistencies.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawin in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the gun;

' Fig. 2 is a top plan view; Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view;

Fig. 4 is an end view from the nozzle end of the gun;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view of the gun, taken online 5-5 of Fig. 1;'

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the top portion of the gun;

Fig. '7 is a top plan view of the bottom portion ofthe gun; and

- Fig. 8 is a plan view of a gasket interposed between the top andbottom portions of the gun.

Briefly the washing and cleaning gun of the invention embodies an innerelongated orifice for discharging a stream ofair or other propellantfluid, which orifice is bounded by substantially parallel sides, and asimilarly shaped outer 'nozzlefor' discharging 'a finely atomized streamof slurry comprising a mixture of water, detergent, and abrasive. The.outer nozzle extends forwardly of the inner orifice for a substantialdistance, and confines the combined fluid stream within'a restricted butgradually increasing cross-sectional area for a sufiioient distance ortime, to effect a high degree of atomization. The gun has a chamberbetween the inner orifice and outer nozzles to insure substantiallycomplete envelopment of a stream of air or other motive fluid, by theslurry mixture. j

.The gun body shown in the drawing in "general comprises upper and lowersections 1 and 2 respectively formed with complementary lugs 3 on theedges of the rear portions thereof with the lugs on the lower section 2having threaded openings 4 and the lugs of the upper section I havingholes 5 there-through complementary to openings 4 for the insertion ofstuds 6 threaded in the openings 4. Nuts 1 threaded onto studs 6 securethe sections together at the rear. The forward portions of the sectionsare secured together by bolts 8 which extend through aligned holes 9along the side edges thereof.

The rear portion of upper section I is formed with a rearwardlyextending upwardly inclined member Ill, having its outer end IIinternally threaded for the reception of a conduit for car'- rying airor other motive fluid to the gun. The member ID has a passageway I2extending lengthwise therethrough, which serves to conduct air to theinner orifice hereinafter described. The upper section I is of generalfanshape, as best seen in Figs. 2 and 6, its narrow portion being at therear end and its wide portion being at the forward or delivery end ofthe The lower or inner surface of section I is machined out, as shown inFig. 5, to form the upper halves of the inner orifice I3 and outernozzle I4. The side walls of both orifice I3 and nozzle I4 divergetoward the delivery end of the gun, and the side walls of the nozzle I4are, in general, a straight line continuation of the side walls of theorifice E3. The upper and lower walls of nozzle I4, converge slightlytoward the outer end of the nozzle.

An elongated cavity I5 is disposed transversely in section I between theorifice I3 and nozzle I4, the purpose of which will be later explained.The top of the chamber I5 is of generally circular shape and the sidewalls are machined out as best seen in Figs. 1, 5 and 6. I

The lower section 2 of the body includes a generally downwardly andrearwardly extend-- a rectangular shape so that the stream of slurryenters the chamber I5 in a form substantially of the same shape as thechamber I5. This provides for more equal distribution of the slurrymixture entering chamber I5, and cuts down frictional losses which maybe quite substantial.

The lower section 2 is of the same shape as the upper section I, and itsinner surface is machined out to form the lower halves of orifice I3 andnozzle I4. The side walls of the lower halves of orifice I3 and nozzleI4 diverge in a like manner, and to the same degree, as theircounterparts in the upper 'body section. The lower wall of nozzle I4 isformed to incline upwardly toward the outer end of the nozzle.

The upper end I9 of passageway I8 is flattened in the longitudinal planeof the member 2 and registers with cavity I5 disposed between the outerend of the orifice I3 and the inner end of the nozzle I4.

when the upper and lower sections, I and 2, of

the body are assembled, the upper and lower halves of both the orificeI3 and nozzle I4 complement each other to form the orifice and nozzle intheir entirety.

A gasket 20 of any suitable material, and of a configuration shown inFig. 8, corresponding to the mating surfaces of upper and lower sectionsI and 2, is interposed between the upper and lowersections of the bodymember.

In the device of this invention, it is of particular importance that theslurry mixture completely surround the air or other motive fluid. Meansfor accomplishing this has been provided by the cavity I5 in the upperbody section, and the flattened portion I9 of passageway 18 in the lowerbody portion.

The orifice I3 and nozzle Id are so arranged that the slurry stream willbe in dynamic new or motion equally on all sides of the air orifice. Inthe operation of the device air is introduced through passageway I2 at avelocity of 6000 feet ormore per second. At the same time a slurrycomprising water, a suitable detergent and an abrasive is forced throughpassageway I8 at a velocity of substantially 900 feet or more persecond. As the slurry is forced through passageway I8, it is directedupwardly into cavity [.5 in a flattened stream. As this stream is widerand higher than the flattened jet of air from orifice I3, the stream ofair is completely enveloped as it leaves-orifice I3 an'd causes theslurry to be carried along into the nozzle 14 at a high velocity by thestream of air.

As the mixture of air and slurry progresses toward the discharge end ofthe gun, it spreads out into a substantially wide fiat stream dueto theconfiguration of nozzle I4. As has been explained, the upper and lowerwalls of the nozzle gradually converge toward the discharge end of thegun. This convergence serves .to offset any tendency of the thoroughlymixed air and slurry to expand perpendicularly of the wider dimension ofthe nozzle when released. At the same time the converging upper andlower walls of the nozzle progressively restrict vertical movement ofthe air and slurry mix and permit a thorough mixing of the two. It hasbeen found that best results are obtained if the length of the orificeI3 ranges between A inch to ft; of an inch. It also has been found thatit is desirable that the area of the orifice I3 at the entrance theretoof passage I2 be approximately sixty-five percent of the area of theorifice at the discharge end. Similarly, the area of the nozzle I4 atthe entrance is approximately sixtyfive percent of the area of thenozzle at the discharge end.

Because of the greatly simplified construction of this device, it ispossible to adapt the same to slurries of different consistencies simplyby employing a gasket 20 of different appropriate thickness. Both theorifice I3 and nozzle I4 are adjusted simultaneously in size by changinggaskets. The relative amounts of motive fluid and slurry changeproportionately with the particular gasket employed.

Suitable valves may be employed in the air and slurry conduits leadingto the gun, so that air may be used to clean nozzle I4 of slurry mix toprevent clogging of the same. Air may also be utilized along in thenozzle to dry the freshly abraded surface of any moisture remainingthereon from the water or detergent employed in the slurry. It is alsofeasible to use fresh water from a by-pass to clean the slurry from theentire unit upon completion of any operation.

Silicosis hazards are reduced to a minimum by the invention in that itmakes it possible to use a wet slurry which eliminates dust as comparedto ordinary dry sand blasting.

Various embodiments of the invention may be employed within the scope ofthe accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A washing and cleaning gun for discharging a relatively thin flatfan-shaped stream of water and abrasive mixture comprising upper andlower housing members, a coaxial orifice and nozzle formed by saidhousing members and being disposed therebetween, the upper and lowerwalls of said nozzle being flat and gradually converging toward eachother from one end of the nozzle to the opposite end thereof, a concavechamber disposed between said orifice and nozzle and formed in saidupper housing member, means to supply fluid under pressure to saidorifice, and means to supply abrasive mixture under pressure to saidchamber to cause substantially complete envelopment of said first namedfluid by said abrasive mixture within said chamber prior to passage ofsaid water and abrasive mixture into said nozzle.

2. A washing and cleaning gun for discharging a relatively thin fiatfan-shaped stream of water and abrasive mixture comprising a. housinghaving upper and lower walls, a coaxial inner orifice and outer nozzlewith corresponding walls spaced apart and formed by said housing, theupper and lower walls of said nozzle being fiat and gradually convergingtoward each other from one end of the :nozzle to the opposite endthereof, a concave chamber disposed between said orifice and nozzle andformed in said upper housing. .means to supply fiuid under pressure tosaid orifice, and means to supply abrasive mixture under pressure tosaid chamber to cause substantially complete envelopment of said firstnamed fluid by the abrasive mixture within said chamber prior to thepassage of said water and abrasive mixture into said nozzle.

3. A washing and cleaning gun for discharging a relatively thin flatfan-shaped stream of water and abrasive mixture comprising a coaxialinner orifice and outer nozzle, said nozzle having upper and lower flatwalls and diverging edges, means to supply fluid under pressureseparately to said orifice and nozzle, a, concave chamber formed in saidupper fiat wall and disposed between said orifice and nozzle to providesubstantially complete envelopment within said chamber, of the fluidfrom said orifice by an abrasive prior to the passage of said water andabrasive into said nozzle, and said chamber being laterally elongated toextend beyond the outer end of the orifice and the inner end of theouter nozzle.

4. A washing and cleaning gun for discharging a relatively thin fiatfanshaped stream of water and abrasive comprising a housing having fiatupper and fiat lower walls defining a coaxial inner orifice and an outernozzle by peripheral complementary meeting edges with the area of theorifice at the entrance thereto approximately sixty-five percent of thearea of the orifice at the discharge therefrom and the area of thenozzle at the entrance thereto approximately sixty-five percent of thearea of the nozzle at the discharge therefrom, a concave chamber formedin said upper wall and disposed between said orifice and nozzle andformed by said housing, means to supply fluid under pressure to saidorifice, and means to supply abrasive under pressure to said chamher tocause substantially complete envelopment of said first named fiuid bythe abrasive within said chamber prior to the passage of the water andthe abrasive into said nozzle.

5. A washing and cleaning gun for discharging a relatively thin flatfan-shaped stream of water and abrasive mixture comprising a coaxialinner orifice and outer nozzle, said nozzle having upper and lower flatwalls and substantially coplanar diverging edges, a concave chamberformed in said upper flat wall and disposed between the orifice and thenozzle, said orifice having parallel upper and lower walls, the upperand lower walls of said nozzle being flat and graduallyconverging'toward one another from the chamber to the opposite end ofthe nozzle, the outlet of said orifice being laterally elongated andbeing positioned immediately adjacent said chamber to discharge a fiatdiverging stream through said chamber and into said nozzle.

6. A washing and cleaning gun for discharging a relatively thin fiatfan-shaped stream of water and abrasive mixture comprising a coaxialinner orifice and outer nozzle, said nozzle having upper and lower fiatwalls and substantially coplanar diverging edges, a concave chamberformed in said upper flat wall and disposed between the orifice and thenozzle, said orifice having parallel upper and lower walls and saidnozzle having substantially flat upper and lower walls which graduallyconverge from said chamber to the discharge end of the nozzle, theoutlet of said orifice being laterally elongated and beingpositionedimmediately adjacent said chamber to discharge a flatdiverging stream through said chamber and into said nozzle.

WILLIAM C. UHRI.

REFERENCES crrm) The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENT Number Name Date 561,483 Bryce June 2, 18961,425,196 Grossenbacher Aug. 8, 1922 1,511,118 Fiduccia- Oct. 7, 19241,548,317 Hilgerink Aug. 4, 1925 2,007,029 Uhri July 2, 1935 2,213,522Holmboe et a1. Sept. 3, 1940

